Uncertainty Theorem

Question

What is the physical meaning of Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle? We have derived it mathematically but what is the logical explanation for it?

https://chemistry.stackexchange.com/questions/59822/derivation-of-the-heisenberg-uncertainty-principle — paracetamol, Jul 13 '17 at 13:37
@paracetamol I meant to say is there any logical deduction of the principle(not formula) without involving complex mayhematics. — Ayushmaan, Jul 13 '17 at 14:05
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave%E2%80%93particle_duality#Brief_history_of_wave_and_particle_viewpoints — paracetamol, Jul 13 '17 at 14:10
Possible duplicate - Heisenbergs uncertainty principle. (Digressing, but what a crappy title - bonus points to anybody who edits that question.) — orthocresol, Jul 13 '17 at 14:16
The physical meaning is that your cannot measure the exact position and exact momentum at the same time. The principle gives a limit on both quantities if we try and measure both simultaneously. You can accurately measure position and momentum if done separately . — porphyrin, Jul 13 '17 at 16:17

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 13 '17 at 14:06

A wave packet is localized in space, but it is a superposition of many waves of different wavelengths.

A simple wave has a distinct wavelength, but it is spread out in space.

The wavelength corresponds to the momentum of a particle: $p = \frac{h}{\lambda}$.

These are examples where you can't know both the position and wavelength (i.e., momentum) of a wave form.

1 Answers1